Another Lost "Experienced" Hiker

[Ben]

I'm glad he is okay.

These stories are always of interest to me as they often begin with "he was an experienced hiker..."

In this case, the hiker had supposedly extensively hiked in the region, but took a "two hour dayhike" on a new to him trail. He had everything he needed to get himself out of his jam. It was all right there in his smart phone, that he may or may not have fully charged before he left.

He took a "last ditch photo" when his phone was at 10% and sent it to a friend instead of calling 911. Did he have geotagging turned off on his camera? Because otherwise his coords were right there in the image metadata.

Before he did that, why did he not check his GPS app? An experienced hiker would have one, wouldn't they? Or even better, the trail map on his backcountry navigator or similar app? I guess he wasn't familiar with the direction he started from and also didn't have a physical compass with him as backup.

This could have easily been avoided with so many easy, simple alternatives that it's ridiculous.

What Ben would do (does do) for this type of hike:

1) At home, download the topo map for the area into backcountry navigator for offline navigation.
2) At the trailhead, put in my starting waypoint.
3) Go hike.
4) Occasionally reference the map just to be nerdy, or if I did wander off the trail and became disoriented,, use the app/GPS/map to get me back on it.
5) If I forgot to charge the phone, plug in my little two ounce powerpack.
6) If the phone falls in a creek and is lost, activate the GPS on my Fenix 5X Plus and use the built-in map there.
7) If an EMP hits while I'm hiking, since  I remembered major landmarks, get out my compass and use that until I intersect the trail again.

Lots of other stuff someone could do. While I will still take paper maps on a multi-day trip,  I don't do so on day hikes and don't worry about it, because other than said EMP, and with "two is one", I don't worry about electronics failures. This guy had so many easy options that even an inexperienced hiker with a smart phone should know, that it baffles me that he both got lost and tried to save himself with a photo sent to a friend, instead of his coordinates.

In an attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt, the article did say "cell phone", not "smart phone". Still, flip phones have GPS as well, and he could have at least put in the trailhead as a waypoint and used the flip phone to get a bearing to his car.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/04/22/lost-hiker-satelite-rescue/

[Ron]

I used to do an annual winter trip up into the Mi UP with folks from work.

The poor decisions from folks who should know better eventually convinced me to stop attending.

When your car is a couple hours away from the nearest hospital and you are a 3 hour snowshoe (shorter xcountry ski) from the car you need to adjust your risk assessment.

There is a difference between doing a stupid thing and making a habit of doing stupid things.

[dogmush]

"Experienced" means different things to different people as well.

Someone that does day and overnight hikes on Forrest Service (or State Park) maintained (and marked) trails with good cell coverage and designated campsites might think themselves an experienced hiker, while the person that does week-long back-country trips might disagree.

My wife and I do multiple hikes day hikes per week, and camp over a long weekend every 4-6 weeks.  But we live on the east coast and everything is pretty close.   I have found by talking with the folks we run into that my growing up in Alaska has permanently altered what I consider "essential" for a day hike in the woods.  Basically, If I am getting more than 4ish miles from the car, I will have everything I need to survive at least the night with me.

My day pack for a 10-15 mile day hike has: Water for the day (up to 6.5 liters, depending on FL weather) Cell phone, Cell battery pack and USB Cable, food for day, 1500 extra calories for reserve, rain gear, dry socks/underwear/t-shirt, space blanket, fire starter, 50ft 550 cord, water purifier, flashlight, compass, knife, gun*.  That's the bare minimum to go into the wilderness.

I've run into a lot of east coast "experienced" hikers that have very different wilderness "experience" than my formative years.



*ETA: and some TP.

** ETA (Again), and a first aid kit.

[Ben]

Basically, If I am getting more than 4ish miles from the car, I will have everything I need to survive at least the night with me.

My day pack for a 10-15 mile day hike has: Water for the day (up to 6.5 liters, depending on FL weather) Cell phone, Cell battery pack and USB Cable, food for day, 1500 extra calories for reserve, rain gear, dry socks/underwear/t-shirt, space blanket, fire starter, 50ft 550 cord, water purifier, flashlight, compass, knife, gun*.  That's the bare minimum to go into the wilderness.

I'm very similar in what I carry on a day hike. I just go into it expecting that a day hike could turn into an overnight, especially for the alpine off trail stuff I used to do in the Sierra (and haven't yet, but want to start doing again here in Idaho). While I still take a space blanket, I also take one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZEPCB4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Or else its smaller, lighter cousin depending on weather. The space blanket is then for a reflective shelter.

All goes into a small-med ruck that I guess looks funny to some of the granola REI types that I have seen on my day hikes carrying just a water bottle, but I don't care. I thought it was amusing one time at 12K feet in May, when it started snowing and I pulled out my fleece while the aforementioned types were in shorts and tshirts. Anyway, I enjoyed the snow. :)

[Kingcreek]

One of the best books in my extensive library is “Deep Survival” by Lawrence Gonzalez.
Excellent book about the mental processes that take place and why some people make fatal mistakes and others with less knowledge sometimes do better.
The subtitle is appropriate “who lives, who dies, and why”

[Boomhauer]

When the news says “he was an experienced hiker” they lie.

The only case, and I mean ONLY case where I went into the woods after someone who had an appropriate level of experience and common sense was for a lady who had the gross misfortune to break her leg on a rough trail.

Everyone else was doing all they could to be stupid. A half full Mountain Dew bottle is not an appropriate hydration source for a 12 mile hike. A photo of the map that you could have bought for $2 but were too cheap to do so is not an acceptable substitute. Going into the woods 30 minutes before dark on a four mile hike is not very smart...especially when your only flashlight is your cell phone with 20 percent battery charge.

[Ben]

A half full Mountain Dew bottle is not an appropriate hydration source for a 12 mile hike.

That made me laugh out loud. 

[Kingcreek]

When I go out to one of my deer stands for a 3 hour hunt, still carry enough in my day pack to spend the night out there if I had to.
I have hunted wilderness areas in northern Minnesota and western mountains. I always said I would rather carry something I didn’t need than need something I didn’t carry.
Only time I was ever seriously lost was in northern MN about 8 miles from Canada. I refused to believe my magnetic compass because I trusted my sense of direction and thought I knew where I was. I convinced myself that the high iron ore in the rock formations was jinking my compass. Found out around sunset that the compass was right and I was far from the fire trail I needed. Luckily I had waypointed after my mistake and could retrace my path. Came back into camp as the other guys were getting ready to come looking for me and my flashlight was down to its last dim yellow wink.

[Hawkmoon]

The only time I can remember getting "lost" was many years ago, on a day hike in Acadia National Park. There are several trails that start in various places and all lead up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. I took a trail I hadn't been on before, somehow missed a stone cairn when crossing a section of bald rock, and realized that I was no longer on the trail.

The good news is that Cadillac Mountain is only 1,500 feet, and "all roads lead to Rome." All the trails on the mountain converge at the summit, where there is also a road, parking lot, and concession store. So all I had to do was keep going up, and I knew I would eventually either cross a trail or find the parking lot. I found one of the more heavily used trails a few hundred feet below the summit.

Embarrassing, but it could have been worse.

And, by the way, this was decades before cell phones, GPS, and all those electronic gadgets.

[Perd Hapley]

I generally agree, Ben, but I don't think you need a $600 watch to be an experienced hiker and not get lost. 

[Ben]

I generally agree, Ben, but I don't think you need a $600 watch to be an experienced hiker and not get lost. 

But as Garand Thumb says, you gotta look cool out there. :)

Plus it's my regular training watch and also gives me health data like blood oxygen saturation at altitude.

[griz]

When the news says “he was an experienced hiker” they lie.
... Going into the woods 30 minutes before dark on a four mile hike is not very smart...especially when your only flashlight is your cell phone with 20 percent battery charge.

Did he/she really think they could do four miles in 30 minutes?  That's seriously math challenged there.

[zxcvbob]

Did he/she really think they could do four miles in 30 minutes?  That's seriously math challenged there.

I would start a hike like that mid-morning.  And that's without a cell phone; I've done it before.  (it's been a few years)  But late afternoon or early evening?  No way!  You wait til tomorrow.

[Perd Hapley]

But as Garand Thumb says, you gotta look cool out there. :)

Gotta look good on the 'gram!

[Boomhauer]

Did he/she really think they could do four miles in 30 minutes?  That's seriously math challenged there.

Yes they did they thought it was gonna be a quick one for some reason.

To understand the caliber of people I dealt with in that position...we had someone, in all seriousness, ask us what time we turned off the waterfalls for the night.

[Perd Hapley]

Yes they did they thought it was gonna be a quick one for some reason.

To understand the caliber of people I dealt with in that position...we had someone, in all seriousness, ask us when we turned off the waterfalls for the night.

Wow. The waterfall thing - wow.

As for the first guy, he can do four miles in just a few minutes in his Jeep. How could he know it would take so long?

[tokugawa]

If the terrain has features (AKA not interminable taiga of uniform 30' spruce and mud, not a cornfield at 1 am, not a southern California 20 square mile sub development in fog) why can't people remember where they have been?
Is this something you just don't see if you did not grow up playing in the woods?

[griz]

Yes they did they thought it was gonna be a quick one for some reason.

To understand the caliber of people I dealt with in that position...we had someone, in all seriousness, ask us what time we turned off the waterfalls for the night.

Well, for the four mile guy you should have just left the sun on until he got back to his car, problem solved!

Seriously, if somebody doesn't understand natural phenomenon such as waterfalls you have to question their competency to do things like driving in traffic where they can endanger everybody else.

[Ron]

Being able to accurately asses how fast you are traveling/or can travel in rugged terrain is an area even "experienced" hikers frequently fail. When I first started backpacking I nearly always over estimated how far I had travelled in a given time frame.

Humming along at 2mph on a well worn path is a whole different creature from hiking to a location on a trail that rarely sees anyone, gets no maintenance and goes through extremely rugged terrain.

[Ben]

Being able to accurately asses how fast you are traveling/or can travel in rugged terrain is an area even "experienced" hikers frequently fail. When I first started backpacking I nearly always over estimated how far I had travelled in a given time frame.

Humming along at 2mph on a well worn path is a whole different creature from hiking to a location on a trail that rarely sees anyone, gets no maintenance and goes through extremely rugged terrain.

Many years ago, my fellow young buck buddies and I picked a trip that we thought would be "challenging" and separate us from the herd. It did, but that first day was an unexpected killer. I recall we got there late morning and by 6pm we were done. We'd made it three of the seven miles we thought we'd do on the first day. Steep switchbacks (where there was even a "trail") through challenging terrain, with around a 1000' per mile elevation gain starting at around 7000'. We were not acclimated, having come from sea level, and I'm pretty sure I had at least mild altitude sickness. Luckily that first part was the worst of it, and we very much enjoyed the rest of the trip.

Early backpacking lesson learned.